SHAMEFUL: As more than 18,000 employees with Hostess Brands Inc. set to lose their jobs because the company ceased operations, the bankrupt company is seeking permission to pay bonuses to key managers as it begins a liquidation that may attract bids from private-equity firms and rivals.

Washington Post: U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Robert Drain is to consider Hostess’s request to close its distribution centers and 36 bakeries at a hearing today in White Plains, New York. Hostess said Nov. 16 that it would shut down, claiming that a weeklong strike by its bakers’ union forced liquidation. The union blamed management’s concession demands, while some employees blamed both sides.

The U.S. trustee, a Justice Department official responsible for protecting creditors, today asked Drain to take control of the liquidation away from the company. U.S. Trustee Tracy Hope Davis asked the judge to convert the case to a Chapter 7 from Chapter 11 bankruptcy, based partly on the company’s intent to pay bonuses, and appoint a trustee to supervise the wind-down.

Hostess officials “have not demonstrated that the insider bonuses are permissible,” Davis wrote in a court filing.

Once again, management screws the little guys royally just to line their pockets. Unbelievable and shameful at the same time.